Written by Kahea Kenolio

Sergeant Muroki came to us to talk to our class on Monday. He works with vice/narcotics. He's been in the service for 23 years, then 5 years in vice/narcotics. He's stationed in Lahaina.

He's married and has 3 children. He graduated at Saint Anthony. Muroki also coached football for Lahainaluna High School in the year of 81'-82'. Okay, that was his background.

Sgt. Muroki talked to us about all different types of drugs and also things they do to find the drugs. He talked to us about marijuana iradification and what they do. According to him, officers need to dangle by a rope tied on to a helicopter and look for plants hidden in the sugar cane. He said it was very dangerous. On Lana'i, there was an accident. Luckily they all survived.

He also told us about heavier drugs and how long it stays in your system. Marijuana can stay in your system for 6 months to a year. Cocaine can last for about 48 hours. Ice for 2 to 3 days and lastly, heroin never leaves your system because once you start, you need it everyday.

I really liked this guest speaker because he brought his case with all the drugs in it. I thought that was cool, because that was the first time I saw a lot of the drugs in the case.

Lahela Steward - I'm happy for him and glad that he's getting drugs off the street little by little, but like he said as long as there's users, there will always be drugs.

Alberto delaCruz - As a DARE student I heard the preaching of staying DRUG-FREE. Year by year, many of my friends got sucked in and some "survived", while most had their course miles from mine. Sergeant Muroki's philosophy is sad, but true. Drugs, it seems, will always by synonymous with life. Regardless, he stressed choice -- he said "we have preached enough, it always ends with it being your choice."

Emelyn Reyes - I really liked his speech because he could relate to us teenagers experiencing these kinds of things. His presentation was really true and everything about us seeing ecstasy and marijuana is really true. We see and hear about it on tv, school, parties, radio, etc."